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Subject:
First report of Downy Mildew Peronospora digitalidis on Foxglove Digitalis purpurea in the U.S. (California; undergoing eradication)

Date posted: October 06, 2002

Source:
Plant Disease Notes October 2002 (vol. 86 no.10, p1176)

The cool wet weather loving pathogen Peronospora digitalidis has been detected in a Foxglove Digitalis purpurea nursery in Santa Cruz, California. Eradication is underway. This disease has been reported in the past originating in Europe, New Zealand, and Asia. Downy Mildew is a fungus-like organism that causes vein-delimited lesions on leaf surfaces. Diagnostic purple to gray sporulation areas are seen on the lower leaf surfaces during periods of wet weather. Wind currents readily disseminate this pathogen. Susceptibility of Foxglove cultivars varied in the Santa Cruz nursery. Some cultivars were completely susceptible, resulting in the destruction of hundreds of plants.